DBB - C: Cannonfodder (Allies) vs Dennishe (Japan)

[KenchiSulla]

SWPAC

Sadly, Dennis plans to take Rabaul early (or so it seems). It looks like he split KB so i'll have to keep an eye out for the remaining carriers.

Submarines are incoming from the east but still pretty far out. I am not going to risk the cruisers in the open and withdraw them to the south, together with the tanker support. So far they went unnoticed so I might catch him later as he starts his landings..

DEI

CVL and CVE roam the South China Sea. Attempting to intercept with dutch submarines and perhaps "lame the duck" so to speak.. famous Japanese damage control might do the rest if I catch a lucky break!

[KenchiSulla]

West coast

As Enterprise and Lexington enter San Fransico harbour, a submarine detects CA Salt Lake City and several DDs. I have to assume Dennis now knows the whereabouts of my carriers.

SWPAC

As my "Group Rabaul" withdraws further south, the carrier group I detected keeps coming south. This is either just a sweep to clear the area of shipping prior to invading Kavieng, or perhaps he has troops prepared for Rabaul.. It is hard to tell what the plan is. I might still be able to sneak in some reinforcements..

Tarawa is invaded and captured..

[KenchiSulla]

CBI

Land based torpedo bombers sniff a troop transport convoy unloading at Rangoon. My assumption that he moved all bombers to Saigon proves to be right as the bombers operate at extreme range and attempt a high altitude bombing run on the ships.. I have 3rd AVG and a Buffalo squadron up. 4 G3Ms/G4Ms fall to the good old RAF and another 19 to the AVG! This will probably teach him to keep an eye on those bombers.. They are not Liberators and tend to burst into flames! They need good escorts or total Air Superiority....

The Stuka of the IJN!

[KenchiSulla]

DEI

Most notable event is the loss of a large AK moving to Perth from Batavia.. I could use destroyers to escort those ships but I could also really use those destroyers to cover Java and the east coast of Sumatra..

The KNIL, now reinforced by two green Indian brigades dig in at Palembang. I am moving some more supplies to Sumatra.. If the Japanese land too few troops he might be in for a nasty suprise. Anything to upset the timetable..

18th British division

I would like some advise from any readers on the 18th div.. I could sneak it into Sumatra as Dennis is not pushing hard enough on securing an airbase on Borneo. The question is, is it worth isolating one of better divisions in SE Asia? At some point Palembang will be isolated and out of supply and the division will be a writeoff..

Any thought on this?

[KenchiSulla]

DEI

Absolutely nothing of interest happened... This should be the silence before the storm or Dennis won't last into 1944...

CBI

I guess he forgot to check his Nells and Betties at Saigon as he again tried to naval bomb my supply convoy at Rangoon from 23k feet.. The slaughter continued with around 20 Nells and 6 Betties shot down... AVG 3rd squadron now has scored 31 kills for 1 op loss.... This should be his wakeup call or he'll be out of experienced torpedo bomber pilots very soon... You really can't afford to not keep an eye on those fragile IJN aircraft...

Some movement on the ground in Burma as Japanese forces crawl towards Moulmein.. I am working on combining into the 1st Burma division. They'll find a nice jungle hex to dig into.. a location safe from being cut of from India.

SWPAC

Landings take place on the Northern coast of New Guinea. The carrier taskforce I spotted turns out to have all fleet carriers in it. Vals and Kates bomb Rabaul with little effect on the ground troops there. Those aircraft should be preserved for naval attacks...

Subwar

Brave little S39 sinks two medium sized cargo vessels with 4 torpedo hits out of 3 salvoes of 2... Drinks will be on my when they return to Soerabaja!

[Arnhem44]

ORIGINAL: Cannonfodder

18th British division

I would like some advise from any readers on the 18th div.. I could sneak it into Sumatra as Dennis is not pushing hard enough on securing an airbase on Borneo. The question is, is it worth isolating one of better divisions in SE Asia? At some point Palembang will be isolated and out of supply and the division will be a writeoff..

Any thought on this?

I wouldn't throw it in unless you're going for an all or nothing strategy with Palembang, apart from the Australian I Corps that's the only full strength CW division you're ever going to see till late war, I'm sure chucking it somewhere else will cause a bigger headache for Dennis.

[KenchiSulla]

Thanks Arnhem.. I have decided to route them to Darwin. Should make landing there a risky job and it is nice to have a good division in Northern Australia...

DEI

Not a sign..

SWPAC

Japanese capture Aitape, Wewak, Nauru Island and are about to capture Rabaul, Kavieng (failed assault this turn) and Shortlands.

West Coast

DD Hull on ASW duty eats a torpedo but is still afloat and might make it back to San Fransico... I am training some floatplanes for search duty of the west coast to reduce the threat from submarines.

[KenchiSulla]

DEI

IJN Cruisers occupy the patch of ocean near Miri and Brunei. A light carrier provides support. I am vectoring additional submarines (a mixed bunch of dutch and US fleet boats) into the area hoping to catch the carrier or any troop carriers. So far no transports are spotted... A taskforce revolving around Exeter and Cornwall are moving into position hoping to stay out of sight for now..

Palembang is receiving more supplies

Philippines

IJA lands at Davao. Force Z is in range of the landing site. CS Chitose is sighted and Force Z will attempt an intercept. Manilla is now empty. Construction of forts continues near Clark Field and Bataan..

CBI

Rangoon is sweeped by A6M2s. H81s and Buffaloes are traded for navy fighters. Zeroes come out slightly on top.. The fighters are stood down for now.

1st Burmese division is combined and then split for rest and refit. The available Indian brigades start to move into blocking positions hoping to fight a delaying action to enable fortification of southern India and northern Burma.

SWPAC

More landings and a deliberate attack on Rabaul. It will fall shortly. Kido Butai sweeps further south, forcing me to move the cruisers back..

[KenchiSulla]

Battleship encounter

Force Z encountered enemy shipping, but not the kind we like to see! Nevertheless, Battlecruiser "Hood" ... erm BB Fuso is sunk by a hit, knocking out forward turrets and a direct hit into the magazines, eploding and sinking her with all hands... All it took was two 14" british forged steel...

Nagato succeeds in penetrating PoW armour with a 40cm hit and force Z disengages.. The good news is that the PoW only took 12 major float damage. She'll need some yard time though..

Night Time Surface Combat, near Davao at 79,91, Range 9,000 Yards

Japanese aircraft
no flights

Japanese aircraft losses
F1M2 Pete: 1 destroyed

Japanese Ships
BB Nagato, Shell hits 5
BB Fuso, Shell hits 4, and is sunk
DD Kuretake, Shell hits 1, on fire
DD Sanae

Allied Ships
BB Prince of Wales, Shell hits 2, on fire
BC Repulse
DD Vampire
DD Tenedos
DD Thanet
DD Electra
DD Express




Maximum visibility in Clear Conditions and 32% moonlight: 12,000 yards
Range closes to 15,000 yards...
Range closes to 9,000 yards...
CONTACT: Japanese lookouts spot Allied task force at 9,000 yards
CONTACT: Allied lookouts spot Japanese task force at 9,000 yards

Range increases to 5,000 yards
Magazine explodes on BB Fuso
BB Fuso sunk by BB Prince of Wales at 5,000 yards

[KenchiSulla]

Prince of Wales damage assesment...

[KenchiSulla]

Philippines

The Davao situation sketched out



DEI

While force Z celebrates it's succes, British Borneo is about to be invaded. With the brave british cruisers detected, there is nothing in position to attempt to stop them. To many cruisers, carriers and torpedo bombers this time. I have set the B17s on Java to rest and prepare for bombing runs to slow down airfield construction..

CBI

Navy A6M2s sweep Rangoon and lose two experienced pilots for a couple of Buffaloes shot down...The layered CAP (15k Buffaloes, 20k H81s and 25k H81s) is working quite well. Wondering how long it will take him to transfer a full group of experts to the area....

[KenchiSulla]

Merry Christmas!

DEI

Troops land at Miri and Brunei. Both bases are expected to fall next turn. I am re-arranging the dutch airforce, supported by B17s from the Philippines. I'll set up Balikpapan as a forward B17 base (for as long as it will last) to enable airfield bombing of Brunei at normal range. It will also bring Davao in range of the B17s just in case the evil Japanese empire decides to use it as an anchorage.

SWPAC

Rabaul falls. KB went missing (refueling?). I am shipping Pioneers and a USMC regiment to Noumea, the other regiment will deploy on the Fiji's.

Philippines

Manilla will fall tommorow. I'v got around 850 AV at Clark and 600 at Bataan digging in. Attempting to withdraw another PA division stuck on northern Luzon but it might be cut off.

CBI

The IJA is slowly pushing for Singapore. I am slowly building up fort and garrisson in Singapore but I am not withdrawing everything. Using the Ghurka brigade and several battalions to slow the advance. The Ghurka's have held off IJA assaults for 3 days now.

[KenchiSulla]

SWPAC

No shocking developments in the area. Rabaul is secured by the Japanese (144th regiment) and the troop convoys return to what I assume is Truk. KB is not sighted... Refueling probably.

I now have a marine regiment inbound Suva and one inbound Noumea, with supporting engineers. Also the first big fuel convoy from Los Angeles is moving towards Australia.

DEI

Miri falls and the airfield is bombed by 18 B17s in a coordinated strike. Soerabaja is a level 4 airfield so sadly they only bring half the bombload.. Nates rise to defend but do not cause problems for the bombers. I'll keep up the strikes for now.

Fuel is being ferried to Perth and some to Darwin. Most of the freighters are now evacuated, small ones to Perth and further south and the bigger ships to Cape Town. Absolutely trying to limit losses to the big freighters!

CBI

The Ghurka brigade is finally pushed out of the way and consequently bombed in the clear. Losses are heavy and the boys try to make for Singapore. I'll see how it goes but if the AV of most north of Mersing is dropping to 100 I'll move the Australians from Mersing to Singapore as cutting off the Peninsula wouldn't be important..

USS Seal

A for effort, F for result. After expending all (!) torpedoes (100% duds) on a damaged freighter Seal empties the deck gun on the poor Japanese merchantment.... The vessel burns but no cigar....

Seal retires to rearm at Soerabaja....

[KenchiSulla]

SWPAC

KB appears 5 hexes ENE of Noumea and sinks two tankers, a cargoship and two small Australian escort vessels. This could have been very bad as I have several ships inbound Noumea (marines and baseforces). The troops are rerouted to Suva (where I have better patrol plane coverage) ready to head back east if needed.

DEI

Brunei falls... We spot a lot of construction units there making me think he'll try to build up the airbase there or move those troops to Miri over land to prevent spoilage (build up torpedo plane base).. Either way we'll keep bombing both airbases for as long as we can. I got around 10 B17Ds in the pool in case we start taking losses.

Palembang has 32k + supplies now. The base should hold out for a while. My hope is the troops will damage oil facilities before surrender in case of an assault.

Silent service

A working torpedo! Glugluglug!

Sub attack near Cam Ranh Bay at 64,74

Japanese Ships
xAK Ryoyo Maru, Torpedo hits 1, on fire, heavy damage
xAK Fukko Maru
xAK Neikai Maru
xAK Awazisan Maru
PB Shonon Maru #10
PB Shuko Maru #2

Allied Ships
SS Stingray



SS Stingray launches 2 torpedoes at xAK Ryoyo Maru

[KenchiSulla]

SWPAC

KB still lingers at Noumea. A french AMC that attempted an intercept (sacrificed so I could get the merchants in port out, merchants I forgot to evacuate...) is bombed into oblivion during the day phase.

It looks like KB is free to roam while follow up forces are being loaded by Dennis.

DEI

A fuel loaded merchantman is torpedoed north of Miri. Most probably he is attempting to prevent spoilage.. Fuel loaded vessels sink so easily..

Submarine attack near Miri at 64,86

Japanese Ships
xAK Mogamigawa Maru, Torpedo hits 1, heavy fires, heavy damage

Allied Ships
SS KXV

CBI

What seems to be a Japanese division is closing in on Moulmein. I am setting up a defensive perimiter, north of Moulmein behind the river. Two battalions up to reinforced regiment strength.

Rangoon is visited by A6M2s. This time I stood down one of the Flying tiger squadrons. The other squadron takes heavy losses.. All are stood down for now..

[KenchiSulla]

A rather quiet turn, but just to keep you informed..

SWPAC

KB is moving back north in the direction of Rabaul passing east of Luganville, possibly hoping to catch some shipping in that area (?)

DEI

Miri is bombed by 12 B-17s doing light damage. This time intercepted by Oscars. KXIV puts a small torpedo into an xAK carrying troops, probably inbound Miri. Damage is reported to be heavy but she might make it.

CBI

Putting up delaying actions in Malaya is not as succesful as I hoped it to be. Troops are swepped aside quite easily. By the looks have it i'll be able to collect around 600 AV in Singapore for my final stand.

[KenchiSulla]

At years close I would like to show my (prepared and underway) defenses for Malaysia and the DEI.

Malayan peninsular and Sumatra overview

Overview of most important defenses:

[KenchiSulla]

DEI

Some choices to make very soon..

[KenchiSulla]

Silent service

3 (Three!) working torpedoes today for the US Navy.. 3 xAKs are hit, one confirmed sunk, one heavy damage, heavy fires (carrying fuel) and one heavy damage...

[KenchiSulla]

DEI

Kates and Betties launch attacks against "Force Cornwall" severely damaging two light cruisers, a heavy cruiser and sinking CL Dragon outright.... Accuracy was devastating and I'll be very lucky if the damaged light cruisers survive...

I didn't think the force was detected but the Light carriers were right in striking range..Perhaps Dennis was trying to cover inbound troop transports to the Philippines. Withdrawing the remaining ships to Soerabaja. The severely damaged light cruisers are limping to Soerabaja for emergency repairs and firefighting support.



SWPAC

KB unspotted. I have got better coverage now, up to 16 hexes north of Noumea so I hope I'll see the danger coming..

Force Canberra (4 CA, 1 CL, 1 DD) is ordered to do an attack run towards Rabaul (full speed, retirement on) but it doesnt work out the way I imagined it to and the taskforce just moved one hex towards target (it was at range 11, now at range 10 - TF speed is 9)... All ships were fully fueled.. Commander refused?